Welcome to our second installment of Everything Etopia a weekly podcast of news and updates.

This week our podcast is all updates. Wow! What a busy week ahead.

Are you a resident of Etopia? Do you have a business, product, or project you’d like us to promote? Drop a notecard to Namaara next time you’re in world with the details or email me at namaara at etopia island dot org.

Podcast Transcript:

Happy Sunday! Welcome to another week and another update of Everything Etopia.

If you haven’t had a chance to take one of the new walking tours or a wagon ride around Etopia Island now is the time to do it. Spring is here. Flowers are blooming. Snow is melting. Besides, it’s just plain fun.

Coming up this month in Second Life is the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference. Lots of great presenters, exhibits, and activities. It’s scheduled for the last weekend of the month and you can learn more at http://vwbpe.org.

Etopia is sending out a warm welcome to Zinnia Zauber and her real world students from Penninsula College, Washington State, USA. Zinnia is a real world professor in Multimedia Communications and a passionate supporter of Etopia. If you happen to meet her wandering around Etopia make sure you give her a warm hello.

This week’s schedule includes our New Resident Forum, tomorrow, Monday March 6th, at 5pm SLT. We’ll meet at the old Train Station, formerly known as the Poetry Corner. Want to know what happened there? Well, join us tomorrow evening at 5pm SLT for the New Resident Forum.

Wednesday, the 8th, our friends from the Brain Energy Support Team will be sharing information about “How To Navigate Cognitive Challenges & Brain Injury.” That will happen at the Amphitheater at 11am and again at 5pm SLT.

Thursday is the Weakly Bored Meating. It’s an Etopia staple. We invite you to stop by Tsidel’s Cafe at 7pm SLT and enjoy a fun-filled hour with friends. As an added incentive the hot dogs are free.

Friday’s Happy Hour is at noon SLT for the convenience of our European residents. We’ll be at the piano bar on Etopia Prime, which is just upstairs from Tsidel’s Cafe.

Saturday is Second Saturday Live Music is at Katja’s this Saturday beginning at 11am SLT.

And on Sunday BEST will be hosting their monthly caregivers meeting.

Be sure to visit Etopia Island dot org for a full calendar of events and more info about Etopia’s 1oth Anniversary and Earth Day Celebration coming up in April.

Finally, we have a Partner Update! Visit Whole Brain Health and Inspiration Island for their all new Meet-Up and for Dani’s Sunday morning meditation class. You can find out more from their calendar at their landing area on Inspiration Island.

Podcast Transcript:

Happy Sunday and welcome to our first podcast of 2017. This is one exciting year!

2017 is Etopia’s 10th Anniversary and, you got it, it’s on Earth Day. Be assured we will celebrate it with all the fanfare we can muster and then some.

We still have space available for vendors and presenters. If you’ve got something to sell, say, or share visit our website at Etopia island dot org.

The politics of the day, I’m sure, have us all on the edge of our seats. Continued turmoil in the Greek economy. Continuous news about Brexit. And a US President determined to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency. And that’s not even the tip of our rapidly melting global iceberg.

But I’m here to tell you that Etopia will continue to build community through it all because that’s what we do best.

Now, on to a few updates. The walking tours are back. They start at the main landing area and we’ve added a few more than we had before. If you’ve got ideas about tours you’d like added why not drop me an email to namaara, n a m a a r a at Etopia island dot org

We also have a new wagon tour that does a loop around Etopia Island with a few interesting pauses and stops along the way.

And there are more storytellers. Keep a lookout as more of these info packed and sometimes cheeky NPCs take their places throughout Etopia.

Events for this week include the Newcomers Forum tomorrow, Monday February 20th at 5pm SLT at the Water Treatment Plant.

The Bored Meating is on Thursday at 7pm SLT at Tsidel’s Cafe on Etopia Prime.

And folks – let’s support our partners at Whole Brain Health on Inspiration Island. They’ve got a whole bunch of interesting things going on over there and our own Dani does meditation class on Sunday mornings.

FYI March is coming up fast and it’s Brain Injury Awareness Month. Flo, from the Brain Energy Support Team, tells me BEST is launching their “Identity After TBI” class in March and they’ll be hosting some other interesting events here at Etopia. We’ll keep you posted on this and everything Etopia.

That’s it for tonight. Tune in next week for more Etopian News & Notes.

There’s a lot happening at Etopia. Some of the best places and activities are just out of view so turn the corner, or dive into the bay. To get you started the Holiday Penquin placed 20 clones around Etopia Island, Etopia Prime, and Etopia Quest. No clues, no LMs, no hints, just an opportunity to explore and discover.

We’ve also got some snowfall on Eagle Peak. Sit by the fire with a special someone, build a snowman, and then take the gondola down to the Pavilion and dance the night away.

Speaking of nights … We’ve got the best New Year’s party planned for Thursday, 29 December at 7pm SLT at the Pavilion. DJ Dani will bring us the best in dance music (I heard it might be Big Band). So blow the dust off the tux, polish up those dancing shoes and kiss 2016 goodbye.

Earlier in November there was a brief post on the Radegast blog stating that updates to this gem of a third party viewer would end. If you’re not already familiar with Radegast, it’s a light-weight graphic-free, but feature-rich viewer for Second Life and Open Sim.

Why is this important? For those with visual impairments, poor internet connections, older computers, or any number of physical and cognitive challenges Radegast is the way to engage in world. Among its many features are speech to text and text to speech tools that can be integrated with other devices such as braille screen readers.

So, when Vivox updated the voice program Linden Labs uses in the SLViewer there wasn’t anyone to update the Radegast viewer. Thanks to Gentle Heron of Virtual Abilities and Beq Janus the word got out and Cinder Roxley stepped up to the plate.

Linden Labs increased the limits on the Mainland earlier this month. As of today Private Estates, like Etopia, are seeing a 33% increase in prim allocation. This means that parcels across all of the Etopia regions will be able to enjoy a richer experience with more room to build or landscape.

Some of our residents have noticed the increase in limits and we are working to adjust our parcel limits and rental rates to meet the changes with as little inconvenience as possible. Once the parcels are updated we’ll begin updating the apartment complexes and shops. Residents will not see their rental rates change until their current rental period is ended.

LL has also announced that soon Private Estates will have the option to increase land impact to 30,000. This may be something we consider in the coming year.

She sings yo ho swab de deck and give me cheek a lil peck Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me…

The idea of being a pirate is a romantic vision of stories we’ve read as kids. Maybe even with a touch of Robin Hood mixed in. We don’t really have the salt air in our hair and the wind in our sails.

Unless you live at Etopia. Thanks to Dani (our game master and battle ref for the evening) we were once again able to live the carefree, adventurous, and even a bit reckless life of storied, fearsome, battle-worn pirates as we sailed the high seas of Etopia.

Last ship sailing? Pachuma was the winning pirate. Congrats mate for a battle well earned.

And off we sail into the night, me ship, me crew and me lass,And all ye jealous buccaneers, can kiss this captain’s… sash.

Be sure to make some time in your schedule to enjoy the best of live music every second Wednesday of the month beginning at 11am SLT. There are many great venues in SL, but the best is KATJA’s at Etopia .

“There is something magical about music, it’s indescribable power to instill and bring forth emotions, thoughts and memories. Torben Asp has harnessed that magic in his musical compositions to emphasize feelings and visions to his attentive audience.”

That’s what Summer Serra felt about Torben’s music. And we did too at his concert at KATJA’s today.

The night sky was filled with color and energy as Torben’s celebration of our Earth embraced us in the most beautiful music and awesome particle show.

It’s a special month for many causes, but one that is personal for me is brain injury awareness. Last fall the Brain Energy Support Team launched their #5forsuperheroes campaign. Many of our residents supported this giving campaign and I am so grateful. Here’s the article BEST published on their blog; http://bit.ly/1lsIkfk. Check it out.

Etopia is home to many nonprofits that support communities and individuals in need or simply to spread awareness, educate, and enhance our quality of life.

Wander the Etopia Island Plaza and the Coastal Village on Etopia Prime to learn more. Let’s show these terrific people and organizations how much we appreciate their efforts and hard work. They really do make a difference.

Etopia is about education and community. We never miss an opportunity to engage in either or both. I see this every day whether Wraith is sharing information about mediation techniques or Patrick is showing off the bike shop to a new visitor. So it’s no surprise that one of our favorite fans, Zinnia Zauber, brought her class to Etopia to learn more.

#EtopiaSL

Today At Etopia

Looks like there isn't anything scheduled for today. Take an Etopia Tour. Talk to our storytellers. Go shopping. It's a great time to wander and explore.